Wearables are a major category at CES this year and while most of the available products have focused on humans, one company, i4C Innovations, is aiming its newest tracking device at a different consumer group -- dogs. Voyce is a health and activity tracking collar designed to be worn by dogs.

Voyce uses a 3-axis accelerometer to track a dog's active and resting periods and a built-in radio frequency technology measures both heart and respiratory rates.

Quote:

Introducing breakthrough wearable technology that bridges the communication gap between dogs, their owners, and the people who love them. Our three-part approach of Discover, Learn, and Share gives unprecedented insight into your dog's health and wellbeing, information and tools for you and your dog to grow together, and ways to share with your veterinarian and social networks.

The data gathered by Voyce is uploaded to and analyzed by an accompanying mobile app, which gives an detailed overview of pet health that can be shared on social networks and with veterinarians. The app tracks trends over time, allowing owners to keep an eye on vital signs and other health indicators to detect potential problems early on.

According to the company, Voyce data can be a valuable tool for pet owners. For example, the activity tracking portion of the band can let owners know if there are early warning signs of arthritis based on lower levels of movement, while the heart rate monitor can notify owners of conditions like chronic pain. The device also tracks the calories that a dog burns each day, allowing for adjustments in feeding.

Voyce accommodates neck sizes ranging from 12 to 32 inches and weighs less than six ounces. It has an estimated battery life of one week and it requires Internet access and Wi-Fi to sync with a mobile device or computer.

Voyce is expected to be released in the summer of 2014 for approximately $300.

Anyway, it's one thing to obsess about your own health (even though you're going to die anyway and in a way you probably don't expect). It's another to project your obsession onto your poor animal. Dogs don't dwell on dying. That's why they are generally happy.

People buying pets are disgusting.
Thee already are enough pets (especially after Xmas) who need a home.

The collar... Well, the rich always want new gadgets..

I bought a pet, I also donate thousands a year to helping homeless pets. Am I disgusting? Some people cannot trust shelter animals around children and other pets, let alone that maybe nothing in what the person is looking for exists in a shelter animal.

People buying pets are disgusting.
Thee already are enough pets (especially after Xmas) who need a home.

The collar... Well, the rich always want new gadgets..

Really? You mean I did something disgusting when I paid $200 per dog I got at the local rescue shelter (didn't want to separate siblings). Then I repeated the process and got some cats. I must be the most vile person on earth for preventing the rescue shelter from having to destroy the dogs and cats. Glad you were here to clear things up.

Really? You mean I did something disgusting when I paid $200 per dog I got at the local rescue shelter (didn't want to separate siblings). Then I repeated the process and got some cats. I must be the most vile person on earth for preventing the rescue shelter from having to destroy the dogs and cats. Glad you were here to clear things up.

Shelters are way different. The OP was talking about retail shops. Although I bought my first boston terrier at retail and my boxer at a rescue. They are best friends. I also adopted a cat from an accidental litter. To each their own. I'll probably never buy retail again but I'm not an animal zealot like some. What do people think happens to those retail dogs that don't get sold? The same love should go to those animals too. You can't blame them if they were born in a puppy farm.

A much better product would be a pet tracking collar. If your pet goes missing, whip out your iphone and the Find my Pet app will show where they are. The data allowance required by the collar could be tied to your phone account. No need to have it using data all the time though, have the collar in a sleep mode that checks very infrequently for a request from your phone. Once the request is received the collar can then stay active to keep a live track of your pet. Once you locate the pet you can put the collar back in sleep mode again. The collar could be solar or kinetically powered.

A much better product would be a pet tracking collar. If your pet goes missing, whip out your iphone and the Find my Pet app will show where they are. The data allowance required by the collar could be tied to your phone account. No need to have it using data all the time though, have the collar in a sleep mode that checks very infrequently for a request from your phone. Once the request is received the collar can then stay active to keep a live track of your pet. Once you locate the pet you can put the collar back in sleep mode again. The collar could be solar or kinetically powered.

Probably just given away a million dollar idea here lol.

Erm, don't worry you didn't give anything away

I've had exactly what you describe for a few years and it works very well. Google retrieva tracking and see what you nearly invented!

People buying pets are disgusting.
Thee already are enough pets (especially after Xmas) who need a home.

The OP's statement doesn't imply it costs $300 to get a new dog; his statement is why pay $300 when you can get a new dog for less.

So why do you assume the $300 is paid to a breeder?

BTW, the cost here to adopt from the county animal shelter is $110. Then add the vet visit and other costs and you're well on your way towards $300. When we adopted a dog from a local rescue group, we paid even more since we had to cover both their cost to adopt from the shelter plus vet bills since the dog had been sick.

I can see this being useful for service dogs, search and rescue dogs. These types of dogs will work until they drop. It is very important that these dogs are kept in excellent health and not worked to the point of exhaustion. This would be a way of tracking their health and knowing just how much they can handle in a given situation.